Bursting charge for projectiles.



F. RTIERI & E. MOLINARI.

BUR CHARGE FOR PROJECTILES. APPLICATION FILED Aue.3i. 1914.

1,270,322. Patented June 25, 1918.

;: ////l///////////////(A% Ila FERDINANDO QUARTIERI AND ET'IORE MOLINARI, OF MILAN, ITALY.

BURSTING CHARGE FOR PROJECTILES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 1918.

Application filed August 31, 1914. Serial No. 859,494.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FERDINANDO QUAR- TlERI, engineer, subject of the King of Italy, resident of Milan, in the Kingdom of Italy, No, 17 Via Principe Umberto, and ETTORE MOLINARI, chemist, subject of the Kin of Italy, resident of Milan, in the King om of Italy, No. 14 Via Vittoria, have invented new and useful Improvements in Bursting Charges for Projectiles, of which the following is a specification.

It is known that when an explosive pro jectile (a shell, grenade and the like) fired from a gun hits against a rigid target (ironplate, armored plate, etc.,) the shock or pressure of all the charge is almost exclusively borne by a certain portion of the charge itself, situated toward the fore end, so that the temperature of the explosive in that zone may reach the temperature of explosion making the whole charge burst prematurely. This premature bursting can be avoided if in the zone which supports all the pressure of the shock, an inert substance is placed. In this case the explosion occurs at the desired moment (during or after penetration of the projectile into the armor, etc.,) by means of the time fuse opportunely timed.

For some time past it has been proposed to substitute that zone of the charge with inert substances more or less elastic, and also directly with rigid wooden points capable of sustaining the whole pressure of the shock resulting from the sudden stoppage of the projectile against the target without provoking the explosion of the charge.

With these dispositions a considerable part of the space designed to receive the explosive was thus lost for the sake of introducing an inert matter.

According to the shape of the projectile and of the charge-chamber, the lost space may, in some cases, reach 10 or even 15% of the total space intended for the charge, with a corresponding loss of efliciency in the bursting of the projectile.

The present invention consists in placing in the fore part of the charge (distributed in one or two chambers of the projectile) a block of explosive matter of a suitable shape, rendered insensitive to shocks by the hereinafter described process, said block being contained in a case of board or other material (which is separated from the rear or main part of the charge by a suitable disk) in such a manner as to keep by this means the shape of the charge chamber.

The accompanying drawing shows by way of example an improved projectile constructed according to the present invention.

In said drawing a is the usual shell. 6 is the case of board or other material which contains the charge of high explosive matter 0 and occupies the cavity of the shell except in the forepart, which is separated from it by a disk of felt d or similar suitable material, and is filled with high explosive matter 6 rendered insensitive.

The piece of explosive insensitive to the shock can be obtained by gelatinizing certain explosives such as the nitrotoluenes, nitrobenzenes, their upper homologues or any other analogous compounds so as to considerably increase their molecular weight and the point of melting and, in some cases, increasing still more their insensitiveness to shock by mixing them, by melting, or by kneading them with diflerent substances which are more or less plastic.

Having now described our invention and how the same is to be carried out, what we claim as our invention, is:

1. A bursting charge for projectiles, proof against premature bursting upon impact, said bursting charge comprisin a for- Ward and a rearward portion both ma e from the same sensitive explosive, said forward portion having been rendered insensitive to shock by a rearrangement of the atoms in the molecules relative to the rearward portion.

2. A bursting charge for projectiles, proof against premature bursting upon impact, said bursting charge comprlsing a forward and a rearward portion both made from the same sensitive explosive, said forward portion having been rendered insensitive to shock by gelatinizing.

In testimony whereof we hereunto aifix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

FERDINANDO QUARTIERI. ETTORE MOLINARI. Witnesses:

B. CARLO SALVATORE, LYLE RoBB.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Iatents, Washington, D. 0. 

